Caclv Receives Report On Possible Business Ventures

Two Allentown-based economic development consultants yesterday reported on potential business ventures for the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley.

Carlton R. Berger and Frank G. Graham told the CACLV board that a weatherization program, a franchising project and moderate rehabilitation of housing were areas that the CACLV should branch into if it were to go into business.

In September, the CACLV decided to commission the "full-range economic survey" to review the economic needs of the Valley, the feasibility of the CACLV developing a revenue-producing job program, and the consequences of a non-profit organization going into a revenue-making venture.

The three-month study cost $12,000 and resulted in a 60-page report.

"Through a carefully planned, progressive approach to non-profit enterprise, (the) CACLV can literally determine its own destiny," was the one-line summarization the two gave of the report.

Berger said the CACLV should look for ventures that provide revenue stability, create jobs and fill service gaps in the area.

But "the key to the whole thing" is for the CACLV to put its objectives in order and decide which of those items are most important.

Graham said the organization has the social-service skills, but must develop the proper business skills if it is to operate effectively in the marketplace.

"The board has got to include people with business skills," and, if it currently does not, they should be added, he said.

Although declining government funds could play a role in what projects are attempted, the CACLV should not be totally discouraged because of funds, Graham said. "If you have a good idea and can convince people, the funds will follow."

Berger said the three programs he and Graham selected were ones that took advantage of the CACLV's organizational strengths.

Berger did not go into detail at the meeting for fear of releasing trade information. However, he and Graham did give general information on the study's three sugges- tions.

The weatherization program would be a good venture for the CACLV because it already has experience from programs it hasconducted Berger said. It also would be a good project because it would require little or no investment, he said. "There is plenty of (weatherization) business out there," he said.

Operating a franchise would be good for the organization because it is less risky than many ventures, has a higher profit potential and generates jobs and much income, but it can be costly, require a large investment, and get tangled in complicated agreements, he said.

Graham said the CACLV has some experience in moderate rehabilitation housing through its shelter and homeless programs. The CACLV's role would be as an equity fund-raiser and shelter and rental management firm, he said. In such programs, housing stock is rehabilitated and rented.

He described it as "something that should be looked at further."

The next step is for the CACLV to start ranking its priorities, Sandy Murphy, executive director, said.

Murphy said the CACLV is "not on a firm timetable" but is preparing in case its main source of funding, the community services block grant, is cut by the government.

It has been targeted for cutbacks each year Reagan has been in office, so it is possible that it eventually will be cut, she said.

The grant provides $350,000, or about one-quarter of CACLV's funds. That money is used in all phases of the CACLV. None of the programs could possibly operate without the grant, she said. "That's what keeps the whole show running. If it was cut, it would affect some of the programs immediately," she said.

The revenues produced by the business ventures would be used to add to or help replace that block grant money, in addition to supplying jobs and needs, she said.

Yet the CACLV is using caution before deciding which course to follow, she said. "(We) are not going to jump into something that we can't do correctly," she said.